As the days drain away from 2012, Far Cry 3, which released this Tuesday to stellar reviews, speaks to where many development studios are likely finding themselves: developing their final current-gen projects before transitioning to Sony’s PlayStation 4 and Microsoft’s Xbox 720. (With Xbox 720 dev kits appearing online, we know some have already taken the leap.)

Such may well be the case for primaryFar Cry 3 studio Ubisoft Montreal — Watch Dogs and Rainbow 6: Patriots, their projected 2013 releases, are both now anticipated as next-gen titles — and now reports are indicating that Ubisoft Massive, one of the game’s co-developers, has also undertaken work on a triple-A project for next-generation platforms.

The evidence stems from the LinkedIn profile of Massive designer Marc Cartwright — who described his current job title as “Game designer on AAA next-gen online RPG.”

Cartwright has since updated the duty listing to simply “Game Designer at Massive Entertainment,” but nonetheless offers that his daily affairs are “Top Secret!”

If indeed Massive’s current project resembles the next-gen online RPG Cartwright (likely unwittingly) specified, it wouldn’t come as a shock — the outfit hired for the very same one earlier this May. Using identical language (“AAA Next-Gen Online RPG”), the Swedish studio and Ubisoft subsidiary posted a job listing that solicited an experienced designer, emphasizing talents with Player-vs-Player and third-person action gameplay aspects. Such requirements immediately placed speculation upon an oft-rumored Assassin’s Creed Online MMO (and ruled out the first-person-fueled Far Cry), but they could apply just as easily to a possible Prince of Persia reboot, which some believe was the subject of Ubisoft’s still-unexplained, new-game teaser images released this summer.

In the end, whatever future venture Massive is masted with has our highest expectations. Ubisoft has shown that online and RPG components are instrumental to its Assassin’s Creed series and now, it seems, Far Cry. And given Massive’s recent roots — developing the multiplayer for Assassin’s Creed: Revelations and Far Cry 3 — they may well be the company’s go-to studio for an ambitious, next-generation confluence of both.

What game would you like to see turn out as Ubisoft Massive’s reported next-generation online RPG?